Three titles for gymnasts

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MINNEAPOLIS – Paul Ruggeri keeps his first NCAA trophy on a crowded dresser in his apartment room on campus.

"It's overflowing," the Illinois sophomore gymnast said. "There's not much room for anything else."

Ruggeri has some rearranging to do today when he returns from the NCAA Championships. The All-American won two NCAA titles – parallel bar and high bar – as Illinois finished the national meet with a bang.

Sophomore Daniel Ribeiro won an NCAA title on pommel horse to give Illinois its most event champs since it had four in 1958.

"No, it doesn't get old," said Ruggeri, the NCAA high bar champ in 2008. "It's great to win especially with all the hard work I've put in. It motivates me to keep pushing the limits of history."

Ruggeri scored 15.175 on parallel bars and 15.750 on high bar. He also took second on the floor exercise with a 15.600 – 0.025 point behind Steven Legendre of Oklahoma.

"Last year it was a surprise to win high bar. I took advantage of a window of opportunity," he said. "To come back and win it with a much bigger score proves to myself that I could do it."

Ribeiro was on schedule to win his first NCAA title in 2008 – he was ranked No. 1 in pommel horse – but faltered at the NCAA meet. This time he delivered with a 15.575.

"It was amazing to get the monkey off my back," the Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., native said. "Before the set, I have never felt so much pressure before."

After the set, Ribeiro cried.

"It was a very emotional moment for me," he said. "Putting so much work and being able to come through in the final, I got what I deserved."

In women's gymnastics:

Fernandez seventh. Illini sophomore Melissa Fernandez registered a 9.8375 on the balance beam to finish tied for seventh at the NCAA Championships on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Fernendez is the program's first first-team All-American.

Starkell honored. The Illini's Bob Starkell was named National Coach of the Year and assistants Kim Landrus and Amy Kruse were named co-Assistant Coaches of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women (NACGC/W) at the NCAA Championships banquet in Lincoln, Neb.

The awards are voted on by coaches.

"It's such an honor to earn this recognition from my fellow coaches and friends," Starkell said. "This award is a reflection how far this program has come in the last five years. Most of the credit should go to my staff and to the great student-athletes that we have here at Illinois.

"I've been doing this for 10 years now and have tried to model myself after individuals who have success year-in and year-out like Suzanne Yoculan (Georgia), Greg Marsden (Utah), Sarah Patterson (Alabama) and Valorie Kondos Field (UCLA). They all make it look easy. While this recognition is nice, I still have a lot of work to do to get to their level of success."

Starkell led Illinois to its first appearance at the NCAA Championships this year.

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